The Whisperer by Donato Carrisi

Mulholland Books; Reprint edition (Jan. 15 2013)

432 pages - 16.50 $

I bought the book The Lost Girls of Rome by Donato Carrisi because he's Italian and I wanted to read something other than Scandinavian or Anglophone thrillers for a change and the French cover was intriguing, as well as the blurb... I haven't yet had the opportunity to read it. End of March, I went to Lyon, in the festival Quai du Polar and Donato Carrisi was there. I didn't bring my book, so I bought another one: The Whisperer to have it signed. I attended a conference on disappearances in which he participated and I found his interventions to be very intelligent and relevant. It could only be promising!

The blurb

A gripping literary thriller and smash bestseller that has taken Italy, France, Germany and the UK by storm.

Six severed arms are discovered, arranged in a mysterious circle and buried in a clearing in the woods. Five of them appear to belong to missing girls between the ages of eight and eighteen. The sixth is yet to be identified. Worse still, the girls' bodies, alive or dead, are nowhere to be found.

Obsessed with a case that becomes more tangled and intense as they unravel the layers of evil, lead investigators Mila Vasquez, a celebrated profiler, and Goran Gavila, an eerily prescient criminologist, find that their lives are increasingly in each other's hands. As sensational a bestseller in Europe as the Stieg Larsson novels, THE WHISPERER is that rare creation: a thought-provoking, intelligent thriller that is also unputdownable.

What's good about it

The very well crafted story and the twists (and what twists!) Carrisi leads us by the nose and we don't realize it until the end. This is really good! It's been a while since I had interrupted my reading to shout  out "Crap! I didn't see it coming!" 

From the beginning, we know that there are six little girls missing (well anyway, it's written on the blurb, so it's not a discovery). Mila, specialist in disappearance is asked to help to find out who is the sixth victim. But whoever did this is very, very strong. He is the one who calls the shots and the police can only run after him and try to understand the messages he leaves them. Then the girls reappear each one after the other and as they find new horrors, it become increasingly urgent to discover the identity of the sixth girl. The story was well constructed, the discovery that goes with every little girl was quite intriguing for the book but Donato Carrisi do not stop there. He hasn't just written a good book based on real facts, no, actually it's a must read book that packs a punch. 

The characters are well written, each with its secrets, which is the underlying theme of the book: we all have a dark side in us. What matters is whether we will lose ourselves in the dark side or if we'll stay in the light. Gavila the ephemeral criminologist and Mila whose past has made her an expert in disappearance are the two main characters and if one is never quite consisting thus endearing, the other is a more complex character one begins to appreciate. 

Good to know, throughout the novel the story is told from the perspectives of Mila and Gavila, some missives of a warden about one of its residents and the thoughts of a captive little girl. It may sound confusing but all is clear in the end and you won't see coming the explanation! 

In a nutshell

This is the first novel by Donato Carrisi and it's excellent! Well-written characters, well-crafted plot and  incredible twists, it's a 5/5 for me.

The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q #1) by Jussi Adler-Olson

Plume; Reprint edition (July 31 2012)

416 pages - 17 $

Well, there it is, I got into: Jussi Adler-Olsen's book, the not so new Danish pertussis. After Jo Nesbo (Norway) (I looove his books), Camilla Läckberg (Sweden)(very good), Arnaldur Indriðason (Iceland)(too depressing for my taste), Karin Fossum (Norway)(not bad) and others... I tried agin a Scandinavian author. I admit that the plethora of price he has won largely influenced my choice (but at least this time it is not the cover, mwahaha).

The first book in New York Times bestseller Jussi Adler-Olsen's electrifying Department Q series.

The #1 international bestseller from Jussi Adler-Olsen, author of The Absent One—perfect for fans of Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Oh, and by golly! Can editors stop bringing any new author as The new Stieg Larsson? Some of them were writing long before him! (Jo Nesbo, Camilla...)(and Millenium is not THAT good!)

Carl Mørck used to be one of Copenhagen’s best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carl—who didn’t draw his weapon—blames himself. So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carl’s got only a stack of Copenhagen’s coldest cases for company. His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: a liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isn’t dead … yet.

Darkly humorous, propulsive, and atmospheric, The Keeper of Lost Causes introduces American readers to the mega-bestselling series fast becoming an international sensation.

What's good about that book

Well, it just took the drive from Quebec to New York to read it in one sitting! The book in writen from Merete and Carl's perspective and I confess that Merete's part reminded me of Alex by Pierre Lemaître (for the prisoner side of course, the rest differs greatly). Merete uses all sorts of techniques to avoid sinking into madness as a long isolation can bring. This part, which may be difficult to read for some, is very well done and clearly highlights her intelligence and fighter side. Carl is just as intelligent (except when it comes to his wife) and his qualities as an investigator do not need to be demonstrated. It's ultimately his morose and cynical character that made ​​him lose the support of his colleagues and his superiors. However, this is a character that one begins to appreciate, probably due to the interaction he has with Hafez. Hafez, the Syrian struggling to find some words in Danish but who can easily find the smallest clues and details. One wonders what was his past, why he came to seek refuge in Denmark and I can't wait to read the other books in the series to learn more about him. 

Early in the book, I knew by whom and why Merete is sequestered, but it did not remove the charm of the book that is greatly due to the duo Carl-Hafez. This unlikely duo is very endearing. The characters are cleverly constructed, which is always nice in a book, one can feel their emotions, their hatred and delusion, even for the secondary characters. As for the story, I don't know if the author purposely leave us guessing so easily, but it speeds up from the moment you know who did it. Everything goes logically according to what's discovered by Carl-Hafez and to Merete's story, which unveiled gradually as the book goes, gives us indices. In the end, it's a race against the clock that plays to free Merete (is she still alive?) 

Throughout the story, we pass from present - in the investigation to find Merete and other ongoing investigations in which mingles Carl - to the past - from when Merete is abducted to the conclusion. The epilogue is perhaps a bit pointless and easy, but doesn't spoil the overall impression left by this breathless novel. 

In a nutshell

A very nice discovery for me. Another author who has rallied me in Scandinavian writing! The excellent tandem Carl-Hafez, the plot well done, a breathless end, it's a 5/5 for me.

I am Pigrim

Terry Hayes
Atria/Emily Bestler Books (May 27 2014)
624 pages - 29.99 $

I am Pilgrim was released in the UK in 2013 and has now been released in North America (a shame when you know part of the story takes place in New York!) I started to hear about it on the social networks and I heard only praise. I am Pilgrim is a spy novel. However, espionage is not the kind of novel I love to read (but I enjoy watching a good James Bond or Bourne flicks). So I was not a priori particularly attracted by this book... so I took my time to read it and what a mistake!

                                                             *************************

An intelligent and taut debut thriller that depicts the collision course between two geniuses, one a tortured hero and one a determined terrorist.

In a seedy hotel near Ground Zero, a woman lies face down in a pool of acid, features melted off her face, teeth missing, fingerprints gone. The room has been sprayed down with DNA-eradicating antiseptic spray. Pilgrim, the code name for a legendary, world-class secret agent, quickly realizes that all of the murderer’s techniques were pulled directly from his own book—a cult classic of forensic science written under a pen name.

In offering the NYPD some casual assistance with the case, Pilgrim gets pulled back into the intelligence underground. Meanwhile, his adversary—a man simply known as “the Arab”—is plotting his next move in service to jihad. What follows is a thriller that jockeys between astonishingly detailed character study and breakneck globetrotting. It takes us from Pilgrim’s hidden life of leisure in Paris to the Arab’s squalid warrior life in Afghanistan, from the hallways of an exclusive Swiss bank to the laboratories of a nefarious biotech facility in Syria. Secrets are exposed and tension builds until Pilgrim and the Arab arrive in Turkey—where the two masterminds inevitably meet to face off in the shocking finale.

Like #1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor, Terry Hayes takes you on an action-packed adventure to the world’s most dangerous countries in this thrilling, twisting, beautifully orchestrated novel.

What's about that book ?

Because this book is actually a blend of James Bond (for the cultural side and espionage) and Bourne (for the action and tough side). This is excellent, well paced, the outcome takes guts, it's pure pleasure!

The book is written from the point of view of Pilgrim who explains everything, really everything. That is why, even if it always happens something, it's not always in relation to the ongoing story but always linked to the story. We discover the past of the main characters which allows us to better know them and understand what brings them together.

There are books that you love the atmosphere, the pace, the characters, the tone or whatever so much, that you do not grow weary and this is the case here. While some authors could make the book tedious with details and context, Hayes managed to make me appreciate all the parts of the story because he really masters the art of story-telling. Everything is connected, everything comes together, the different experiences of the characters explain their presence in the story and the tone of the book is excellent with just the required touches of humor when needed.

Speaking of characters, we meet Pilgrim, a former very secret services agent, " retired " - despite his young age - who is being called again because he's the only one who can save the country from the imminent threat. We know that Pilgrim was one of the best agents, if not the best, since he said it... I admit that I would have liked more anecdotes about his past to get an idea of why he's the best one as the only details explaining its soaring in the hierarchy of the secret world are a little flimsy. Saracen, the terrorist, is a character that we discover as a teenager and that we follow throughout his journey leading him to his will to destroy humanity, so that you can't completely hate him. And finally, Ben, the New York cop, a hero with a big heart, loyal and reliable. There are other characters that we not follow long but just as well written and who, despite their brief appearance, leave a strong impression in the novel.

I appreciated that the tension rises gradually, as Pilgrim gets close to the Saracen and finishes with a stressful race against the clock. I really enjoyed the clues planted by here and there by the author, foreshadowing what will happen - and it sets thinking - we know that this clue is important but not why till the twist and I must say that a lot of time I found it very good! I also enjoyed the trips we made ​​to cities and countries according to where Pilgrim goes - from Paris to New York, Turkey, Saudi Arabia...

In a nutshell

A first book for this author but what a book! Humor, suspense, a race against the clock, well-written characters and travels. It is a 5/5 for me.


Warning: An e- galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review has been promised and chronic above is an unbiased review of the novel.